Flexible conduits, and in particular corrugated plastic conduits are often used in the electronics and telecommunications industries to protect optical fiber. Optical fiber is sensitive to excessive strain, and damage may occur if it is allowed to be bent at a sharp angle. The corrugated plastic conduits prevent such damage by limiting the angle at which the fibers may be bent, while at the same time also protecting the fibers against damage caused by contact with other objects.
Corrugated plastic conduits may be either closed tube, or split tube, the latter having a longitudinal split provided on one side. Split tube provides an advantage over closed tube in that while closed tube requires that the optical fibers be threaded through the tube during installation, with split tube, the fibers may simply be pushed into the tubes through the longitudinal split. This facilitates installation of the fibers within the tubes.
In connecting several devices, it is desirable to have optical fiber conduits which accommodate a complex network of fiber connections. Such a complex network requires junctions between the conduits shielding the fibers, such as cross junctions, T-junctions and Y-junctions. At present, no simple method of providing such junctions in split tube exists.
Optical fiber junction boxes, where several conduits bring optical fibers into a junction box, are known. Such a junction box is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,840 granted to Caveney on Aug. 26, 1997. However, such junction boxes require a great deal of space, which space is often not available in the area behind or between the devices to be interconnected. Further, no effective method of preventing the fibers from bending at sharp angles is provided, since once a fiber leaves the conduit, it is no longer protected against such bending. Such junction boxes are also complex devices, and are therefore expensive. Finally, during installation of the fibers, such junction boxes do not permit the user to simply push the fibers into them.